Chapter 5 - Mia Believed Her Father’s Love Could DisappearGavin did not ask Mia another question outside.
He took her inside.
Closed the door.
Left Reid standing on the porch.
Paige brought water.
Mia sat on Gavin’s lap.
Her breathing came fast again.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“You did nothing wrong.”
Mia cried.
“But Mom said—”
“I know.”
“No matter what Mom said, you did nothing.”
“Is the secret bad?”
“It’s a grown-up secret.”
“About me.”
“Yes.”
Her face collapsed.
Gavin hated Audrey in that moment.
Then hated himself for thinking the sentence around Mia.
He slowed his voice.
“The secret is about choices adults made before you were born.”
“Did I make them?”
“No.”
“Because I wasn’t born?”
“Exactly.”
That got a tiny laugh.
Gavin held her.
“Can Dad-love go away?”
The question nearly destroyed him.
“No.”
“Never?”
“Not mine.”
She stared at him.
“Even if Mom lied?”
“Yes.”
“Even if Darlene tells?”
“Yes.”
“Even if Uncle Reid—”
Gavin stopped her gently.
“Even then.”
Mia hugged him.
He waited until her breathing settled.
Then Paige took her upstairs.
Gavin returned to the front porch.
Reid was gone.
Good.
He called Audrey.
“Come to Paige’s.”
“I’m with my attorney.”
“Now.”
“What happened?”
“Mia told me what you said.”
Silence.
Audrey whispered:
“What?”
“That I might stop loving her if I learned the truth.”
Audrey began crying.
Gavin hung up.
Forty minutes later Audrey arrived.
Gavin met her outside.
“What did you tell our daughter?”
Audrey covered her mouth.
“I was scared.”
“No.”
She stared.
“That is not the answer.”
“I didn’t tell her the test.”
“What did you tell her?”
Audrey cried.
“That there was something from before she was born.”
“And?”
“That Darlene knew.”
“And?”
Audrey looked away.
Gavin’s voice hardened.
“And?”
“I said I didn’t know what you would do if you found out.”
Gavin stared.
“She is six.”
“I know.”
“You made her think my love depended on her keeping your secret.”
“I didn't mean it that way.”
“Then what way did you mean it?”
Audrey had no answer.
Gavin stepped back.
“You were afraid of losing me, so you made Mia afraid of losing me.”
Audrey cried harder.
“I’m sorry.”
“Good. Be sorry.”
She flinched.
Gavin continued:
“But don’t ask her to make you feel better about it.”
Audrey looked toward the house.
“Can I see her?”
“Not tonight.”
“Gavin.”
“She asked for me.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Yes.”
The word cut.
Audrey saw something in his face.
“Did you see the test?”
“Yes.”
She stopped breathing.
Gavin waited.
Audrey whispered:
“I can explain.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Is it real?”
She cried.
“Yes.”
There.
The last doubt disappeared.
“Reid is Mia’s biological father.”
“Yes.”
“Does he know?”
“No.”
“He does now.”
Audrey stared.
Gavin continued:
“He saw it.”
Her face went white.
“What did he say?”
“Do not make his feelings your priority.”
Audrey looked down.
“Did the affair ever happen again?”
“No.”
“Did you kiss him this year?”
Audrey froze.
Gavin laughed once.
“He told me.”
“It was one time.”
“Stop using numbers like they reduce betrayal.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Did you consider leaving me?”
A long silence.
“Yes.”
“For Reid?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Yes.”
Gavin looked away.
The marriage was already different before today.
He had simply been the last person informed.
Audrey whispered:
“I was trapped.”
Gavin turned back.
“By who?”
“Darlene.”
“No.”
“She had the test.”
“She had leverage.”
Gavin stepped closer.
“You had choices.”
Audrey started crying.
“They would have destroyed everything.”
“Everything is being destroyed because you avoided them.”
She looked down.
Gavin continued.
“Did Darlene demand money first?”
Audrey’s face changed.
“You know.”
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand.”
“And after?”
“More.”
“How much total?”
Audrey whispered:
“About eighty-six.”
Gavin stared.
“For six years?”
“Yes.”
“Why keep her employed?”
“At first because I was afraid.”
“And later?”
Audrey looked at him.
“Because she started recording me.”
That surprised him.
“What?”
“She knew I had evidence of the payments. I knew she had evidence of the affair. If I fired her, she threatened to expose me. If she exposed me, I would expose her blackmail.”
Gavin saw it.
Two adults chained together by mutually assured destruction.
“And Mia lived in that house.”
Audrey cried.
“Yes.”
“Did you ever think Darlene might turn on her?”
“No.”
“Never?”
“No.”
Gavin believed that part.
Audrey loved Mia.
That did not erase what she had done.
“Go home.”
Audrey looked at him.
“You’re not coming?”
“No.”
“Are we done?”
Gavin felt the question pulling him toward a decision he was not ready to make.
“I don’t know.”
Audrey cried.
“That scares me.”
He looked at her.
“Then carry your own fear.”
She flinched.
He softened only enough to be fair.
“Mia is done carrying it for you.”
Then he went inside.
Upstairs, Mia was sleeping.
Gavin sat beside her.
Her face looked peaceful now.
He watched her for a long time.
Then his phone buzzed.
Detective Shaw.
“We found the first payment.”
“What?”
“Darlene’s account.”
Gavin stood.
“And?”
“Three days before the transfer, she sent Audrey a message.”
Shaw read it.
“Twenty thousand, and I forget what I saw.”
Gavin closed his eyes.
May you like
Darlene had not merely been trapped.
She had opened the door herself.
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